Scramble to avert chaos after Stobart Air collapses

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, added: “The Government is strangling aviation even though the majority of UK adults have received both vaccine doses and should be given the freedom to fly.”

Stobart Air was part of London-listed Esken, the aviation and energy conglomerate that was previously called Stobart Group. It operated Aer Lingus regional services between Belfast, Leeds Bradford, Edinburgh, Exeter, Manchester, East Midlands and Birmingham, as well as flights from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newquay to Dublin and Irish domestic routes from the capital to Donegal and Kerry.

Prior to the pandemic, Stobart Air also ran services for BA CityFlyer from London City Airport, and KLM Cityhopper from Amsterdam. The carrier had picked up a number of routes following the collapse of Flybe, Europe’s biggest regional airline, in March 2020.

Esken put Stobart Air up for sale in the hope of offloading expensive aircraft leasing contracts costing the group tens of millions of pounds.

A deal was struck in April to sell the airline for a nominal £2 to Ettyl, a start-up led by 26-year-old Isle of Man Bitcoin investor Jason Scales.

Last week The Telegraph revealed that police had been alerted to potential irregularities relating to the takeover. This followed an announcement by Esken that Mr Scales’ financing had fallen through.